KMEL Summer Jam
For the San Francisco Bay Area, it all began in the summer of 1987, but fifteen years later in 2002 it would all come to an end. It was the 106 KMEL Summer Jam, a Hip-Hop and R&B concert series that at one point was the largest radio concert taking place on the west coast, if not the entire country. No official word has been released regarding the end of KMEL Summer Jam – the death of the concert occurred peacefully, going largely unnoticed. However, the concert series that KMEL started has become a grand tradition elsewhere. Every year, Hip-Hop and R&B radio stations around the country such as Hot 97 in New York and 100.3 The Beat in Los Angeles invite some the hottest acts in the music biz to perform at their respective all-day, mostly outdoor concerts known as the “Summer Jam”. Typically, a Summer Jam show can sell out within hours – if not minutes – once tickets go on sale. And with crowds that can get as large as 22,000 attendees, Summer Jam is often the biggest musical event of the year for both radio stations and their listeners. In 2002 however, bad press and/or violence marred three of the nation’s biggest summer jams. At the Nassau Coliseum in New York, Hot 97’s event was cut short when Nas (who was the headliner) refused to go on after being told he couldn’t stage a mock lynching of his arch-rival Jay-Z. At the 100.3 The Beat Summer Jam, violence between rival gangs spilled onstage at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA, ending that show and making headlines around the world. And just several hours after the Seattle-based KUBE Summer Jam concluded at the world-famous Gorge Amphitheatre, a festival vendor was shot and killed in the campgrounds adjacent to the venue. The threat of violence and other problems have been plaguing Summer Jam concerts for years, perhaps dating back to 1995 when Mountain View police had to shut down San Francisco’s 106 KMEL Summer Jam at the Shoreline Amphitheatre after a melee broke out backstage. But for several years prior to that occurrence, KMEL had been able to stage wildly successful showcases that would usually start around mid-morning, and sometimes run past midnight. It should be noted that the first radio station to regularly schedule an all-day, superstar concert was Boston’s mainstream pop station Kiss 108 FM, beginning in 1980. However, the Hip-Hop/R&B Summer Jam that has become so popular these days was born in the summer of 1987 when KMEL Program Director (at the time) Keith Naftaly put together the first show. Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam headlined at KMEL Summer Jam #1 and two short years later, the KMEL Summer Jam had become the largest radio concert in the country, lasting for two days at a time and raising over a million dollars for local charities. KMEL Summer Jam I (1987) Stacey Q, Curiosity Killed The Cat, The System, Klymaxx, Expose, Sweet Sensation, Debbie Gibson and headliner: Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam KMEL Summer Jam II (1988) Pebbles, The Fat Boys, Stevie B, Expose, Dino, Al B. Sure!, Keith Sweat, Sweet Sensation, Kool Moe Dee, The Cover Girls, Run DMC, Brenda K. Starr, Vanessa Williams, Will To Power, Ice-T, Tony Terry, and headliner: LL Cool J KMEL Summer Jam III (1989) Paula Abdul, Milli Vanilli, Stevie B, Dino, The Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Too Short, Tony Terry, Afro-Rican, Sweet Sensation, Troop, Tony Toni Tone, Run DMC, Martika, Safire, Tommy Paige, Flame and headliner: New Kids On The Block KMEL Summer Jam IV (1990) Mariah Carey, Troop, After 7, Surface, En Vogue, Michele, Mellow Man Ace, Snap, Rodney O & Joe Cooley, Howard Hewett, Johnny Gill, Paula Abdul, Tony Toni Tone, Whistle, Tyler Collins, Paris and co-headliners: Bell Biv Devoe and MC Hammer KMEL Summer Jam V (1991 - 2 Day Festival) C&C Music Factory, Digital Underground, Salt 'N' Pepa, Too Short, Another Bad Creation, DJ Quik, Ralph Tresvant, Heavy D & The Boyz, Color Me Badd, Monie Love, MC Breed, Queen Latifah, Tony Terry, Rodney O & Joe Cooley, Hi-Five, and surprise guest, Ice Cube Boyz II Men, 3rd Bass, Riff, Paris, Lisa Fischer, Cathy Dennis, Keith Washington, Oaktown 3-5-7, Gerardo, B Angie B, Main Source, Sway & King Tech, Special Generation, Brand Nubian, Jasmine Guy, Yo-Yo, Tara Kemp, Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch, Corina, Ben B. Hard KMEL Summer Jam VI (1992 - 2 Day Festival) R. Kelly, MC Hammer, Mary J. Blige, Too Short, Troop, Tevin Campbell, Arrested Development, EPMD, Mint Condition, Naughty By Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Ralph Tresvant, DJ Quik, Lisa Fischer, Das Efx, Queen Latifah, Immature, Black Sheep, Tracie Spencer, 2nd II None, Atlatic Starr, MC Breed, Yo-Yo TLC, Boyz II Men, A Lighter Shade of Brown, Father MC, Nia Peeples, N 2 Deep, House of Pain, Spice One, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, The Cover Girls, A-D-O-R, College Boyz, Nice & Smooth, MC Brains, Supercat, Brotherhood Creed, Me-Phi-Me, Ho-Frat-Ho, Stacey Earl KMEL Summer Jam VII (1993) Ice Cube, Mary J. Blige, Pharcyde, Silk, Tag Team, Shai, SWV, H-Town, Brian McKnight, Run DMC, Toni Braxton, Diggable Planets, Trey Lorenz, Hi-Five, Onyx, Queen Latifah, Levert, Roger & Zapp, Total Devastation, UNV, Rodney O & Joe Cooley, and Jeremy Jordan KMEL Summer Jam VIII (1994) SWV, E-40, Tony Toni Tone, Shai, Public Enemy, Tevin Campbell, Coolio, Aaron Hall, Rappin 4-Tay, Blackstreet, Queen Latifah, Da Brat, Conscious Daughters, Patti Labelle, Domino, Outkast, Changing Faces, For Real, Masta Ace, Crystal Waters, JT The Bigga Figga, Ahmad, The Puppies KMEL Summer Jam IX (1995) Naughy By Nature, The Notorious B.I.G, Total, Jon B, Brandy, Coolio, Tha Luniz, After 7, Montell Jordan, Monica, Soul For Real, Warren G, The Doveshack, Shaggy, Confunkshun, Adina Howard, Skee-Lo, Da Brat, RuPaul, Doug E. Fresh, The Lost Boyz, Jodeci KMEL Summer Jam X (1996) LL Cool J, D'Angelo, A Tribe Called Quest, Keith Sweat, SWV, Run DMC, De La Soul, Immature, Quad City DJs, Digital Underground, Az Yet, Jocelyn Enriquez, Color Me Badd KMEL Summer Jam 1997 Included: Blackstreet, 112, Ginuwine, Aaliyah, Dru Hill KMEL Summer Jam 1999 Included: Next, Busta Rhymes, Puff Daddy, Nas, Mase KMEL All-Star Jam 2000 Included: Lucy Pearl, Jay-Z, Da Brat, Little Kim, Missy Elliott